Energy Saving Tips

Attention Parents: Fight Global Warming and Save Money!

Every product that uses electricity has two costs: the one on the price tag and the one on the utility bill. For some energy-wasting products, the cost to run the product may be many times greater than the cost to purchase it. Although some energy-efficient products may have a higher price tag, they often pay for themselves in energy savings.

Together we can make a difference!

Free Book on Energy!

The National Academies Press has available What You Need to Know about Energy available to download at no cost to you.

What You Need to Know about Energy presents an accurate picture of America’s current and projected energy needs. The book also describes options that are likely to play a significant role in our energy future.

Click on the image below to obtain your free copy of What You Need to Know about Energy.

Xtreme Energy Makeover Helping San Diegans Save Energy.

The Xtreme Energy Makeover is a project designed to demonstrate the energy efficiency and conservation opportunities available in single-family homes built before the implementation of California’s Title 24 residential energy standards. These homes provide opportunities for reducing energy use achieving energy savings through the replacement and retrofit of existing inefficient appliances and energy utilizing systems.

Three Good Web sites

Here are three great Web sites for you to use. The first clip is about compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs.) Celebrities share their reasons for changing from incandescent bulbs to CFLs. This is very cool!

Generation Green is a sustainability program developed by British Gas whose aim is to make it easy and rewarding for teachers to promote sustainability in their classroom, school and local community. The curriculum includes lesson plans and teaching resources to generate exciting, engaging lessons and activities on sustainability.

If EVERY SDG&E customer did all these things:

Reduced their driving by 1 mile every day, we’d save 4.8 millions pounds of CO2 per day

Washed their clothes in cold water, we’d save 2.4 billion pounds of CO2 per year

Line-dried 1 load of laundry once a week, we’d save 836 million pounds of CO2 per year

Turned down the thermostat 2° (to 68°) in winter and up 2° (to 78°) in summer, we’d save 26 million pounds of CO2 per day

Unplugged their electronics when not in use, we’d save at least 13 million pounds of CO2 per day

We’d save 20 billion pounds of CO2 per year, the equivalent of 2 million fewer cars on the road for 1 year!

How much energy do you use?

What’s a kilowatt?

When you use electricity to cook a pot of rice for 1 hour, you use 1000 watt-hours of electricity! One thousand watt-hours equals 1 kilowatt-hour, or 1 kWh. Your utility bill usually shows what you are charged for the kilowatt-hours you use. The average residential rate is 8.3 cents per kWh. A typical U.S. household consumes about 11,000 kWh per year, costing an average of $900 annually.

How Much Electricity Do Appliances Use?

This chart shows how much energy a typical appliance uses per year and its corresponding cost based on national averages. For example, a refrigerator uses almost five times the electricity the average television uses. Visit the Consumer’s Guide for instructions on calculating the electrical use of your appliances.

Consider using 4-watt minifluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights. Both lights are much more efficient than their incandescent counterparts. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.

Use CFLs in all the portable table and floor lamps in your home. Consider carefully the size and fit of these systems when you select them. Some home fixtures may not accommodate some of the larger CFLs.

Recessed downlights (also called recessed cans) are now available that are rated for contact with insulation (IC rated), are designed specifically for pin-based CFLs, and can be used in retrofits or new construction.

Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight.

If you have torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps, consider replacing them with compact fluorescent torchieres. Compact fluorescent torchieres use 60% to 80% less energy, can produce more light (lumens), and do not get as hot as the halogen torchieres. Halogen torchieres are a fire risk because of the high temperature of the halogen bulb.

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